History Main / HighClassGlass

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hcg_cinderella.png]]]]

Ironically, however, in America the monocle is associated with ''the English'', having a much more neutral stigma and being a core wardrobe piece of the QuintessentialBritishGentleman.

* In Literature/{{Discworld}} fic ''Fanfic/ThePriceOfFlight'', [[KaiserReich Hanna von Strafenburg]] remarks that while she is an [[UsefulNotes/{{Germany}} Uberwaldean]] and proud of her heritage, there are three things she considers take the Uberwaldean identity too far it too far. Goose-stepping, those steel helmets with a spike on the top, and wearing a monocle. She is absolutely determined never to do the third.
--> If my vision ever fails, Olga, you may be sure I will remedy the defect with good corrective glasses. Never a monocle.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', "A Fishful of Dollars"

* ''[[LightNovel/FullMetalPanic Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid]]'': Sir Mallory, one of the top dogs in Mithril, is shown wearing a monocle.

* In ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'', Cardinal Sforza is a woman who wears a monocle. She's also a duchess and half-sister to the Pope.

* The Penguin from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. This has been [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in various subsequent adaptations. In ''Film/BatmanReturns'' the Penguin's father wore a monocle, but the Penguin himself uses one only when he's writing at his desk. In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', he does wear the monocle all the time, but is actually dirt-poor, the idea that he is living the high life being just a delusion in his head. Most versions suggest that it's mostly if not entirely an affectation (in one Silver Age comics story, he switches the monocle to his other eye just to troll and distract Batman with an irrelevant puzzle).

* In ''ComicBook/DarkReign: Franchise/FantasticFour'', the FF traveled through several alternate universes, including one with the FF as the royal family in a mock-Elizabethan England. The Thing, dressed as a chamberlain and sporting a monocle, has become an internet meme.
-->'''The Thing:''' Milady, [[SophisticatedAsHell 'tis the clobbering hour.]]

* ComicBook/GreenLantern foe Baron Tyrano sports a monocle despite being [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport confined to an iron lung]].

** [[Characters/{{Hawkman}} Gentleman Ghost]] is completely invisible aside from his monocle, [[LightIsNotGood sparkling white attire]] and Top Hat.

* Franchise/WonderWoman [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]] foe Rudolph Hessenpfeffer [-aka-] the Gentleman Killer is a NaziNobleman who wears a top hat and monocle which somehow never falls out while fighting Diana, Etta and ComicBook/SteveTrevor.

* Baroness Paula von Gunther wears a monocle in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Scorn of the Star Sapphire!"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

** Billionaire Bot. In the Movie ''The Beast with a Billion Backs'' he has a monocle made with a HUMAN EYE! Which he actually needs to see, despite only missing one eye.
** The episode "The Mutants are Revolting" features a banner at a high society event reading: "NO TOP HAT, NO MONOCLE, NO SERVICE"
** Invoked on the page quote from "A Fishful of Dollars", in which Fry becomes a billionaire.

** In the episode "The Best Night Ever", a number of high-class ponies at the Grand Galloping Gala are seen wearing monocles. During Rarity's part of "At the Gala", she imagines one such pony's monocle popping off when she enters the room.

** Rarity uses opera glasses while watching the dragon migration in "Dragon Quest". Her friends use binoculars.

* Long Patrol hare officers in ''Literature/Redwall(series)'' often have a monocle, usually indicates the commanding officer of the group who is usually MajorlyAwesome, ColonelBadass or TheBrigadier.

* Though none of his screen counterparts have ever worn one, Van Pelt is depicted as wearing one on the covers of some of the board game tie-ins for ''Franchise/{{Jumanji}}.''

* Though none of his screen counterparts have ever worn one, Van Pelt is depicted as wearing one on the covers of some of the board game tie-ins for ''Franchise/{{Jumanji}}.

In media, the monocle's wearer will constantly clean it and fidget with it. It will be whipped out and squinted through when the wearer views something below his social station. In comedies, a monocle will pop off its wearer's face and/or shatter in shocked response to the working class hero giving this pompous toady his well-deserved comeuppance. The monocle is also a popular graffito to [[FaceDoodling draw on a sleeping person's face]]. Especially in British works, the monocle is associated with old-time German military officers, and its appearance on the face of a German is visual shorthand, depending on whether the war is the first or the second, of a haughty aristocratic Prussian or a Nasty Nazi. Either way it denotes a cold-blooded thinly-disguised psychopath with no regard for human lives lost, so long as Germany wins the war. Monocles and nasty Germans are pretty much synonymous in British works.

Largely obsolete today (it disappeared sometime during TheGreatDepression of the 1930s, when being conspicuously wealthy was a quick way to get yourself despised)[[note]]It's mostly a case of ScienceMarchesOn; ophthalmologists stopped prescribing monocles as we developed more sophisticated means to measure refractive error, allowing for better glasses with different lenses for each eye[[/note]], the monocle is a corrective lens applied to only one eye. In this sense it is no different from eyeglasses. But while eyeglasses have never been anything more than a medical appliance (with the possible exception of the pince-nez), the monocle has been a status symbol virtually since its invention.

** ''Literature/FoundationSeries''' "Literature/TheMule"": The warlord of Kalgan wore a monocle along with his "fur-lined scarlet robe and high-crowned hat", until he met the Mule, who [[EmotionControl forced him into service as his loyal viceroy]]. As viceroy, he has no need for such displays of opulence.

** [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/v8fs1v/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-bernie-goldberg-fires-back Toppington von Monocle]].

** In "The War Games", von Weich wears one, since he's [[spoiler: a Time Lord posing as]] a WWI German major.

* Midlake's debut album "[[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kB-bFlO9alk/TxLPQSxlruI/AAAAAAAABuM/s6Qzyo3ahQ4/s1600/Frontal.jpg Bamnan and Silvercork]]" is a loose concept album featuring villainous characters called Monocle Men, one of them being pictured on the cover.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'', on top of being dressed in a top hat and the tattered remains of a tailcoat, the Bogeyman haunting [[AmusementParkOfDoom Atlantic Island Park]] is equipped with a monocle, though he's rarely seen using it. [[spoiler: Upon killing him, it turns out that the monocle can actually be used to reveal Nathaniel Winter's true will - this being the big reveal of the Bogeyman's true identity.]]

* Arpeggio, the BigBad from ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves''. It even makes for dramatic effect [[spoiler: just after his death scene]].

* Von Pinn from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' wears a tinted-red monocle. She gets an uncharacteristic monocle pop at [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040730 one time]].
** Tarvek, aristocratic even among aristocrats, wears a pair of pince-nez, which pops off when he [[spoiler: gets stabbed by his cousin Tweedle]].
* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Chapter003/ib015.html Caspian's father.]][[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib084.html Plus one of the Watchers]]

* Chase from ''Webcomic/NerfThis'' dons a tophat, a fancy mustache, and two monocles. Along [[http://nerf-this.com/poetry-in-motion/ with his girlfriend]].

* Sean has a fantasy about becoming monocle-rich in ''[[http://awkward.natural20s.com/2008/02/11/16-monocle-rich/ Sean and Mimi's Awkward Adventures]]''.

** Used in the comic [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=190 "By Popular Request"]]. Yes, [[Manga/InuYasha Inu-Yasha]] sipping tea while wearing a monocle. Notice the "monocle!" UnsoundEffect.
** Leo's father also [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=269 wears a monocle with a top hat]], just to play up his "Britishness".

* On establishment the British National Health Service refused to provide monocles through their services. Wiki/TheOtherWiki suggests this led to their decline.

** A more villainous version is Count Leptor of Freege from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral'', Tiltyu's ArchnemesisDad.

* Johnny from the ''Franchise/DocSavage'' novels originally wears a monocle to correct the vision in his injured left eye. After Doc operates on the eye and repairs the damage, Johnny keeps the monocle as an affectation, although it now contains a powerful magnifying lens that he uses as a tool.

** [[Characters/{{Hawkman}} Gentleman Ghost]] is completely invisible aside from his monocle, [[LightIsNotGood sparkling white attire]] and [[NiceHat Top Hat]].

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. One of the Pyro's new unlockable [[NiceHat hats]] is a monocle and fake mustache taped over his mask. Which can be worn in conjunction with the MANY different top hats available to various classes.

* Thomas Chestershire from the ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'' takes this trope [[UpToEleven up to eleven]] by wearing not one but two monocles, which he wears, according to his character bio, for "twice the class." Being a member of the [[BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats Toppat Clan,]] he of course also wears a top hat, and has a [[SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish British accent.]] Truly a classy individual.

* Chase from ''Webcomic/NerfThis'' dons a tophat, a fancy mustache, and [[UpToEleven Two monocles.]] Along [[http://nerf-this.com/poetry-in-motion/ with his girlfriend]].

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hcg_cinderella.png]]]]

[[quoteright:219:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Monocle-man_545.gif]]

* Professor Z, TheDragon of the Pixar film ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} 2'' actually wears a monocle over his windshield.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''

** Once unmasked, the Masked Lumen from ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 2}}'' wears a monocle with a sunburst theme. [[spoiler:Then again, he is Father Balder's past self.]]

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''

** His {{Expy}} Etzel in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem'' also wears one, probably for similar reasons.

* Similiar to the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' example above, [[CowboyCop Garrus]] [[VigilanteMan Vakarian]] in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games wears the sci-fi version of it, with the HUD showing tactical data, helping him to aim etc.. In second and third game, [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] can acquire one like that, too.

* Shoyō from ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'' wears one post-Awakening perhaps to suit his [[WarriorPoet personality]] and [[ThePenIsMightier combat style]], but this is '''''Heian period Japan''''', so monocles should have [[ArtisticLicenseHistory no business]] [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel doing there]].

* ''Videogame/{{Runescape}}''

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* A couple of characters in [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon]]'s ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' wore monocles as a means of visually telling the audience something about them:

* So does the Mayor of Townsville on ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'', Little John wears a monocle as part of his disguise as Sir Reginald, Duke of Chutney. (Yet another piece of the film's AnachronismStew.)

* In ''Film/JewelRobbery'', Teri’s former lover, Paul, the cabinet minister, sports one whenever he wants to look more serious.